The delay, he said, would not hamper their onward progress and
the journey would continue as scheduled. The team has been working with the embassies at the destinations where
they will stop to ensure that the air rights were still unchanged.
The weather conditions were not entirely favorable. The team had to leave their destinations before sunrise at
most of the places, which meant waking up at three in the morning and gearing up for a tiring flight. However,
under all these circumstances, their spirits have not waned. Instead they have grown stronger.
"It's been a nice flight so far. Lots of deserts and lots of sea. Delays happen but we have to keep safety
as our first priority," said Paolo Zecchini.
Earlier, the two aircraft - one painted in Italian color and the other painted in Grey and white - made a perfect
landing at the Sharjah International Airport.
They were received at the tarmac by Mohammed Al Hajri, director-general of civil aviation, Sharjah, Aldo
Volini, consul of Italy in Dubai, Italian defence attache and other airport and Italian embassy officials.
"As we are dealing with aircraft, the size of them does not matter," said Hajri. He said the airport
was keen to assist such flights through the embassies.
"When the Italian embassy approached us, we were most willing to help. We are glad that the pilots are
here and we hope they enjoy themselves in the UAE especially in Sharjah. Such flights are good means of publicity
for the UAE, especially Sharjah," he said.
He lauded the mission undertaken by the pilots who showed that "even with a small type of aircraft, they can
bring the world together."
Expressing happiness at the stopover, Volini said the spirit of passion and adventure that brought them to the
emirate.
"It's not easy to cover 16,000 kilometers in little planes. The pilots have shown the world the Italian spirit
that moves within them," he said.
A memento was presented to Hajri by Filippi on behalf of the Air Rally Roma team. The pilots were given gifts
by the airport.